Allellopathic effects of leaf leachate of Mangifera indica L. on initial growth parameters of few homegarden food crops.
Sahoo U. K., Jeeceelee L., Vanlalhriatpuia K., Upadhyaya K., Lalremruati J. H.
Author Affiliation: Department of Forestry, School of Earth Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Mizoram University, Post Box-190, Tanhril, Aizawl - 796 009, Mizoram, India.
World Applied Sciences Journal 10 : 1438-1447
Abstract : Aqueous leaf extract of different concentrations of Mangifera indica L. was used to investigate their effects on germination, shoot and root length and dry matter yield of 5 food crops viz. Capsicum annum L. (Chilli), Glycine max (L.) Merr. (Soybean), Zea mays L. (Maize), Oryza sativa L. (Rice) and Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench (Lady's finger). Mature fresh leaves of this tree were crushed and soaked for 24 h; the filtrates were diluted to make different concentration and used to investigate their effect on the test crops. The experiment was carried out in sterilized Petri plates with sterilized absorbent cotton kept under natural light dark cycle and was replicated 3 times. The aqueous leaf leachate of M. indica was found to have both stimulatory and inhibitory effect on germination, shoot, root elongation and dry matter of receptor plants. Both bioassays and pot culture indicated that the inhibitory effect was much more pronounced at higher concentrations, while the lower concentration showed stimulatory effect in some cases. The most affected crop was lady's finger among the test crops. The inhibitory effect was much pronounced (P0.001) in shoot and root length as compared to the germination of the receptor crops.